Taking Road Kill Heads?

PleaseDear · Jan 20, 2010

Is it a legal to take the head off a Road Kill here in Utah?

I travel that Weber Canyon/Morgan/Echo Canyon/Evanston corridor alot and I see a road kill bull or buck or bull moose and when I am coming back down, I notice the head is cut off.

Is there a Road Kill course to take on the DWR site? (wink/wink)

Robb

manny16 · Jan 20, 2010

only if you have an 18 or 24 volt cordless sawzall...........
you're messin with us PleaseDear...................
what'd ya get?
and how big is it?

soon the love in his heart will be the rage in his fist

Jesus is coming and boy is he pissed

bamacpl · Jan 20, 2010

I stopped & took the head off a raccoon the other day....

....put one of those Ryobis' you got to use

tabbyhntr · Jan 20, 2010

I believe the dwr takes the heads. I've seen them do this...

eurosbyRT · Jan 21, 2010

From what I have been told by the DWR, its not legal unless it is a varmit( racoon, coyote,etc) If you have a fur bearers you can pick up badgers and others that fall under it. As far as deer, elk and others, NO you cant pick them up, they can charge you with poaching if they catch you with a head with no tag. You can call them and try to get a salvage tag, but I dont think they let you keep the head

monstermuleyman · Jan 21, 2010

LAST EDITED ON Jan-21-10 AT 08:40AM (MST)[p]I was told by a friend of mine who is a DWR officer that it is LEGAL to pick up elk/deer/moose as long as they are in your designated unit, and your willing to blow your tag on um'

bamacpl · Jan 21, 2010

LMAO!!!!

That's what I'm going to do this year...ride around in the unit with my tag & look for a trophy road kill!

PleaseDear · Jan 21, 2010

Now Manny---no need to pray for me!

Not to long ago----UThunting saw the very same bull, not that we travel together, but the head was gone when I came back down Echo/I-84....nor UThunting nor I cut it off but we both saw it gone.

This year, while going to get more Ryobi lithium batteries-----I saw a nice bull moose dead.....coming back down the head was gone.

I just wondered if there was any law in print about it?

Robb

manny16 · Jan 21, 2010

just so you know PleaseDear...................
them cordless saws are handy..................
and one more thing,
you may not stop & hack,but the very next tard by will..........
no matter the law..............
not sayin its right,just sayin it happens........

soon the love in his heart will be the rage in his fist

Jesus is coming and boy is he pissed

REDDOG · Jan 21, 2010

A shotgun will remove a skull plate in a pinch...I hear

YELUM · Jan 21, 2010

The law states you are not allowed to pick up antlers still attached to the skull plate. You may call said DWR and request them to investigate a dead head. If it is found to have died a natural death, they will then issue you a salvage permit. I'm not sure car collision is considered natural. But I don't know. Thats UT's law. Not sure about other states. I've heard you could in CO.

Yelum

one_dryboot · Jan 21, 2010

I think most heads are cut off by everyone but the DWR. Around the Morgan area most guys drive around with a saw in there left hand just waiting.

deadibob · Jan 21, 2010

I totalled my car on a 32" buck one January a few years ago. The impact knocked the antlers off the skull and I kept them as by then they were sheds. The highway patrol didn't seem to mind when he recorded the accident.

I called him "The Escape Buck" because he totalled my ford escape.

Bates7 · Jan 21, 2010

I'm not from UT but I'm your neiboor to the south. I have several buddies that are Game Wardens here in AZ. Well one day while working on an antelope project with them I asked about collecting elk ivories from road killed elk. My friend told me that by law as soon as I touch the animal I take responsibility or posession of it. So in other words if I have a tag then I have used it for that year. See we can recover road kill in AZ as long as we have a hunting license and if we want the animal then we purchase a tag. The reverse of that is if I don't have a tag or license then it could be considered poaching.

"Vegetarians are cool. All I eat are vegetarians - except for the occasional mountain lion steak."
-Ted Nugent-

HUNTINFORLIFE · Jan 22, 2010

The DWR set up a trap with a 180inch buck a month or so ago. the set it right close to the white line on the road so anyone that drove passed it at night would see it. then they hide back a few hundred yards with night vision and pulled anyone over that stopped to look at the buck and harassed them thinking of cutting the head off.

justr_86 · Jan 22, 2010

Its illegal and if caught you will be charged the same as if you shot it.

Watch for people doing it on Le units and get a free tag.

Roy · Jan 22, 2010

Man - how hard up do you have to be to take a road kill head?

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

KILLERBEE · Jan 22, 2010

>The law states you are not
>allowed to pick up antlers
>still attached to the skull
>plate. You may call
>said DWR and request them
>to investigate a dead head.
> If it is found
>to have died a natural
>death, they will then issue
>you a salvage permit.
>I'm not sure car collision
>is considered natural. But
>I don't know. Thats
>UT's law. Not sure
>about other states. I've
>heard you could in CO.
>
>
>Yelum

what if you just cut both antlers off individually?
they wouldn't "be attached to the skull plate", right? [just a hypothetical]

carbonnation · Jan 22, 2010

I think it is important to note that every game officer has the freedom to write tickets based on his interpretation of the law and his understanding of the events that have taken place. If he determines that your actions were illegal, you will be wtitten up. You can fight any such fine in the utah courts. However, most have found that it take far more time and money to fight these citation that it does to just pay them.......so in short, if you are walking in the grey area of the law or anywhere near the grey area, you are risking that an officer will determine you to be in violation of that law....and he has the right and leway to write you up......even if you are not technically breaking that law.

idahoan · Jan 22, 2010

Illegal in Idaho, dumb rule, should be finders keepers. But then you would have people trying to total Ford escapes just trying to collectinsurance and 32" sheds! Ha Ha, just kidding about that last part about litterally tryng to total the car.
My dad passed a nice 5x5 because of the law and that same day like three hours later a game warden showed up because someone said they seen him stop to look at it. My dad told the guy to get lost because he really thought my dad took it and my dad said look around. They will try ya for anything.